DeSantis suspends FL’s only Black female state attorney

On August 15, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis last Wednesday suspended elected Orlando-area State Attorney Monique Worrell, accusing the prosecutor of being soft on criminals and “neglecting her duty” in office. 

Worrell, elected in 2020 as state attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit in Orange and Osceola counties, is the only Black woman serving as a state prosecutor in Florida, according to the ACLU of Florida. She won nearly 66% of the vote. 

Worrell’s predecessor, Aramis Ayala, the first Black woman elected to be a local State Attorney in Florida, was twice forcibly removed from cases under her purview by both the governor and his predecessor before she finished her duly elected term in 2021, the organization said. 

Worrell, speaking to reporters shortly after DeSantis’ announcement, said the governor saw her suspension as a way of bolstering his struggling presidential campaign. 

“This is a political hit job,” she said, decrying what she called the “loss of democracy” through the governor’s action. “I am your duly elected state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, and nothing done by a weak dictator can change that.” 

Worrell is continuing her campaign for reelection in 2024. 

In his executive order suspending Worrell, DeSantis maintained that her policies prevent or discourage assistant state attorneys from seeking mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes and drug trafficking offenses. 

Worrell’s practices and policies constitute “abuse of prosecutorial discretion” and reflect “a systemic failure to enforce incarcerative penalties called for by Florida law,” the order stated. 

DeSantis’ order pointed to Florida Department of Corrections’ data, which he said showed that prison admission rates for Worrell’s region between Jan. 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, “are below – often far below – the statewide average across all categories of criminal offenses, except three.” 

“It is my duty as governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Tallahassee announcing the suspension. 

DeSantis named Andrew Bain, who recently served as an Orange County judge, as acting state attorney. In 2020 the governor tapped Bain – a member of the conservative Federalist Society legal group – to serve on the county court. 

“I will make this office accountable to the community we serve, and to ensure criminals who poison society, cause mayhem and murder are held accountable under the law,” Bain, who joined DeSantis at Wednesday’s press conference, told reporters. 

DeSantis’ office began investigating Worrell after 19-year-old Keith Moses was charged with first degree murder in the February deaths of Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, Nathacha Augustin and 9-year-old T’yonna Major. The girl’s mother and Spectrum News 13 photographer Jesse Walden were also shot. 

Shortly after the shooting, DeSantis’ general counsel said in a letter to Worrell that she failed to hold Moses accountable despite his criminal record and gang affiliation. The governor’s office sought Moses’ juvenile records, which are usually protected. 

Among other cases cited by DeSantis, the governor accused Worrell’s office of mishandling the arrest and detention of Daton Viel, who allegedly shot two police officers Aug. 4, 2023, before being killed Aug. 5 by an Orlando SWAT team. Viel was arrested in March 2023 and charged with sexual battery on a minor, but was released after posting a $125,000 bail bond in April. 

Central Florida law enforcement officials, including Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, backed Worrell’s suspension. The Fraternal Order of Police of Orlando called Worrell “soft on crime” in a social media post Aug. 5. 

Worrell said the police union assisted the governor’s office in her removal because, when she ran for office in 2020, she pledged to hold law enforcement officers accountable for their actions. 

“On that I delivered, and that is the reason that law enforcement galvanized behind the governor’s undemocratic attack,” Worrell said. 

Democrats and groups advocating for Black women lawyers were among those who condemned Worrell’s suspension. 

“This situation is truly alarming,” said Lotoya K. Brown, president of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association. 

In a statement, the organization called on the Florida Senate to reinstate Worrell if DeSantis fails to provide compelling justification for his order: “This action raises serious concerns about the preservation of prosecutorial independence, the integrity of the criminal justice system, and undermines the democratic process.” 

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington. D.C., said in a statement that Worrell had done nothing wrong: “This abuse of power by Gov. DeSantis is not only an attack on Democratic Black leaders in Florida, but an attack on our democracy itself.” 

Adora Nweze, NAACP Florida State Conference president, issued a statement calling the policies of the DeSantis administration “fascist.” 

“With each political stunt he performs, Ron DeSantis makes it more clear that he is determined to undermine Black power and progress,” Nweze said, adding that Worrell “displayed an unwavering commitment to promoting equity, justice and public safety within her district.” 

DeSantis last year removed State Attorney Andrew Warren, a twice-elected Democrat in Tampa, over his signing of pledges that he would not pursue criminal charges against seekers or providers of abortion or gender transition treatments, as well as policies about not bringing charges for certain low-level crimes. 

“Elected officials are being taken out of office for political purposes, and that should never be a thing,” Worrell said. 

Worrell can challenge her suspension in court and request a separate state hearing on the matter. The overwhelmingly Republican state Senate is expected to have final say over whether she gets her job back or is permanently ousted. 

This piece was republished from The Miami Times.